Improvement in fastening devices for hat-racks



J. WAGNER. Fastening Device for Hat-Racks.

No. 222,613. Patented Dec. 16, 1879.

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JACOB WAGNER, OF MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA.

IMPROVEMENT IN FASTENING DEVICES FOR HAT-RACKS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 222,613, dated December 16,1879; application filed April 17, 1879. i

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J AGOB WAGNER, of Montgomery, in the county of Montgomery and State of Alabama, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fastening Devices for Hat-Racks; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention; which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

The object of my invention is to provide a fastening device for hat-racks, to be used in hotels and other places of public resort where hats are liable to be stolen or exchanged by mistake, by means of which a hat can be quickly and sec urely fastened to the rack and the fastening automatically locked.

The invention consists of the fastening device or clamp, which is fully described and set forth in the following description and claims.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a peg of a hat-rack with the improved fastening device attached, and Fig. 2 is a side elevation taken through the look.

A is the peg on which the hat is hung, and B a wedge-shaped block secured to the rack above the peg, and against which the rim of the hat rests. The slope of the block B approximates to the slope of the rim of a stiff hat, so that the hat will not be damaged or in any way injured by the pressure of the clamp 0 against it. The clamp G has thejournals D, which are supported by the standards E and F, one of which, E, contains a lock for fastening the clamp 0 when it is down against the block B or the rim of a hat.

The spring S is attached to the frame H of the hat-rack and to the upper end of the clamp O, and throws the clamp up when it is free. The journal D has a socket which receives the bolt m of the look when the clamp is down against the hat. The bolt on slides in proper guides, and rests upon the spring at. It has the slot or recess 0, which will receive the arm of the key only when the clamp is locked; and when the clamp is unlocked the key cannot be removedthat is, when the clamp is locked and the bolt is up in the socket, the key can be inserted, and the arm of the key will readily swing round into the recess 0, and, bearing against the lower end of it, it will press the bolt down and release the clamp. Then, as long as the clamp is raised and the bolt is held down by pressing against the unbroken .portion of the journal, the key cannot be removed, as the recess is so short that theupper end of the recess prevents it from being swung round clear of the bolt, and the key is thus held in the lock until the clamp is pressed down and fastened; then it can be removed, as the bolt is thrown up sufficiently in entering the socket of thejournal to permit the arm of the key to swing free from the bolt. The object of thus securingthe key when the fastening is not in use is to prevent it from being carried off by mistake or design, or otherwise lost. On the other hand, when the fastening is used and the clamp is pressed down and locked, the key can'be easily removed.

Each clamp is numbered and its key is marked with the same number, so that thekey, which is removed by the guest when he has hung up and fastened his hat, serves as a check. Moreover, when the guest has unlocked the clamp and taken. his hat, the key cannot be removed from the lock unless the clamp is again pressed down and fastened.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as my own, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination of the peg of a hat-rack and the clamp G, hinged to the rack and provided with suitable locking mechanism, the clamp 0 being placed so as to bear against the back of the rack above the peg, as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The combination, with the peg of a hatrack, of the sloping block or surface B and the clamp G, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. The combination, with the peg of a hat rack, of the clamp 0, having journal D and spring S, and the locking mechanism which looks into the journal D when the clamp is down.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JACOB WAGNER. Witnesses:

DAVID A. SPENCER, H. A. WILsoN. 

